


New Beginnings

by Kaarina_Riddle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cheating spouse, Dramione Professors, F/M, Harry Potter - Freeform, Love Triangle, Post War, draco - Freeform, hermione - Freeform, redemption fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2018-11-08 22:39:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11091396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaarina_Riddle/pseuds/Kaarina_Riddle
Summary: Hermione comes home to find her husband in a compromising position on the kitchen table and wants to get away from everything, the perfect job opportunity as a professor of Charms at Hogwarts is offered and she takes it. Only to find that there's a surprise Draco Malfoy old school nemesis is the new DADA professor what will happen?





	1. New Regimes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Beachmomma77](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beachmomma77/gifts).



> Hey all! This was my submission for Strictly Dramione's Spring Fest 2017 there will be at least 6 more chapters to come depending on how my edits go! Please tell me what you think a review makes my day
> 
> Story name: New Beginnings
> 
> Rating: M for later chapters
> 
> Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger
> 
> Synopsis: Hermione comes home to find her husband in a compromising position on the kitchen table and wants to get away from everything, the perfect job opportunity as a professor of Charms at Hogwarts is offered and she takes it. Only to find that there's a surprise Draco Malfoy old school nemesis is the new DADA professor what will happen? 
> 
> Prompt: Hogwarts Professors. Hermione bursts into laughter, only realising after a few seconds that Malfoy had not joined in. “Wait”, She said tensing. “You're Serious”.
> 
> AN: All canon characters, plots, and situations from the Harry Potter universe belong to JK Rowling. I am not profiting from this writing.
> 
> Beta love to Sandra-Sempra who dealt with my random writing style for months! Thanks lovie x

****

 

**Chapter 1: New regimes!**  
   
Hermione Granger hadn't stepped through these gates in over five years.  Since the end of the final battle, she had gotten a job with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and she married Ronald Weasley.  It was all perfect until one day it, wasn't anymore.  
   
She had known what was going on from the beginning, she just didn't want to have to face the fact that her first love would ever cheat on her and that her marriage would end.  
   
Then, five years after it had all began, she had come home from university after a hard day of studying the laws and customs of witchcraft and magical creatures to find her husband sprawled out  on their kitchen table with his secretary, Pansy Parkinson.  
   
Hermione hadn't said a word, which was completely out of character for her.  She wasn't one to let things slide, however this time she silently went into her room, packed her things, and simply walked out. She went to the only place she felt safe, her childhood home where no one would bother her until she was ready.  
   
Unknowing to Hermione, Minerva McGonagall had been keeping a close watch on her and her life for several months now, as she needed a new charms professor at Hogwarts immediately.  Professor Flitwick had come down with some rare wizard virus, and was out of commission.  She knew she was the right witch for the job, and visited her with comforting ears  before offering her the position.  The perfect escape for a new beginning.

There was a catch, however, to this whole get away.  Hermione would have to run shared classes with the DADA professor every so often, to promote new ideals with the students.  
   
That did not sit well with Hermione. The disclaimer coming from McGonagall’s lips sounded as though she knew there could be potential trials between her and this other professor. Hermione hesitated at first but saw the determination in her old Mentor's eyes, and knew she would not give up without a fight.  
   
So after a grueling session of sitting through negotiations,  she accepted and moved on to the details.  That was three months ago, and she still hadn't been told who the DADA professor was going to be, and had to settle with finding out at the start of term.  
   
The moment of truth was about to be upon her, and she grew nervous as this had not been where she saw her life going. She quickly sent a patronus up to let the Headmistress know she had arrived and sat down on one of her bags to wait.  
   
She was so intent on watching the doors of the castle that she didn't notice the man walk up behind her until he placed his bags down and said, “you would think she wouldn’t keep her favorite ex pupil waiting so long.” in his deep voice that she wouldn't forget anywhere.  
   
She turned to face the blonde and couldn’t help but notice how handsome he had become since she had seen him last. He still wore his expensive “specially designed and tailored for him” clothing and that exorbitant smirk upon his face. He wore a black oxford and black pants that looked like they could be sold at Nordstrom except for the fact that they were obviously stitched to his exact measurements. They framed his buttocks nicely and showed his front off to perfection.  
   
“Malfoy, what the hell are you doing here!?!” She yelled at her former classmate.  
   
“Oh this is rich, she didn't tell you?” he chuckled a bit and went quiet, crossing his arms as he watched her try and figure it out.  
   
“Tell me whaaa….” she trailed off and shook her head “surely not! You can't be! Not possible.”  
   
“I am and it is completely possible,” he said knowing her brilliant brain hadn’t slacked over the years and managed to crack that he was the new DADA professor.  
   
As she was about to respond, she heard someone clearing her throat at the gate and turned to see McGonagall standing there wearing a stern expression.  
   
“That is quite enough, you will not argue. I know that you two have a past but let's leave it there shall we? You two are the best people for these positions and you will also be good examples for mending the bridges between the houses.  I will not have you being rude to one another  once you cross this line,” she pointed to an invisible line that crossed into the school, “understood?” She asked.  
   
They both looked to the other and back to their former professor now colleague, and nodded. They picked their luggage up and followed the Headmistress.  
   
As they journeyed up to the castle the group was silent, the two new Professors thinking about how they would have to deal with each other all the time and actually get along, it was going to be tough.  
   
They reached the front doors and the older woman finally spoke “now seeing as you both asked to not stay in your respective house staff quarters we made a wing for you I will show you where it is located now and let you get settled before the students arrive tomorrow” she stated.  
   
They followed her to the seventh floor and found themselves outside two large portraits.  One displayed that of a lion and the second a dragon.  
   
“These are your respective quarters,” she said looking between the two of them, “You may create  your own passwords, and the rooms will go to your design. They will only be able to be changed three times so choose the design wisely,” she  left them no time to argue over the fact that their rooms were situated so closely together before walking away.  
   
Hermione went to her portrait and whispered “traduction”.  The lion in its frame opened its mouth and roared,swinging open widely to let her pass through. She ignored the blond at her back as she stepped inside.  
   
She walked into the room and noticed that everything was a blank slate, dull and bland in color.  Brows furrowed, she bit her lip in thought as she decided to design her lounge section first and then moved through to make it more like a muggle flat.  
   
In her mind she pictured a large, spacious room with walls that were  pearl white in colour.   The floors were covered in a pale red carpet, decorated with swirls throughout the threads, and a large L shaped black lounge sectional with several ottomans spread throughout the room. The walls were mostly lined with shelves to store all of the books she had brought from home. In front of a sleek glass coffee table, a large fireplace of  white with black and gold finishings set the focus point.  Black marble stairs led up to a second floor, displaying railings of gold with black accents.. There were also two pearl white doors with gold handles heading off the lounge room that she would turn into a study and kitchenette and dining room for when she didn't want to eat down in the Great Hall.  
   
As she opened her eyes she saw exactly what she had seen in her mind and smiled satisfyingly . She quickly added some artwork around the walls to tie the room together and decided that she would tackle her study next.  
   
Pausing with her hand on the golden handle, she thought about what she wanted to see when she opened the door.   She pictured a room of the same design with pearl white pigments upon the  walls as the lounge with bookshelves covered three of the four from floor to ceiling. , The fourth would sit behind her desk and there would be a picture of a wolf and a lion resembling hers and Harry's animagus forms. Her desk would be elegant and large in size  that was black with gold edging.  Upon it, a lamp as well as  quill and ink holders, and  a spot for her picture frames.   She anticipated many nights working in this space, and imagined the seat to be nice and plushy. There would be ottomans littering this room as well as there was nothing better than relaxing whilst she worked.  She peered inside and once again saw the room that her mind displayed in full detail.  Smiling again, she was happy with the magic that was infused throughout the space.  
   
She moved onto the kitchenette and dining room, picturing the same coloured walls as the previous rooms, with a black marble bench and a stovetop with a small fridge to match. There was a island that she could eat at if she didn't want to sit at the table and a pantry off to the side that would hold all of her snacks.  
   
The table was a black pine with two seats to match and cushioned with white material.. Upon its center was  a crystal vase and some white roses and candles. The table could be extended as needed and more chairs would appear depending on how many people were going to sit down.  
   
There was a window seat facing towards the Black Lake and forbidden forest and she could make out Hagrid's hut. She would love to sit there wrapped in a throw blanket and either read a book or mark assignments.  
   
There would be a chandelier above made from tiny crystals that would sparkle in the sunlight invading the room through the large windows. Before her last thought finished in her mind, she opened her eyes, watching the room as it made the adjustments she had painted and loved that she got to see the magic happen.  
   
She scanned the room  at the perfection one more time, then decided to go upstairs and design the space upstairs that would be her bedroom, bathroom, and lounge..  
   
She was halfway up the steps when she realised that two rooms and a large open space had already appeared for her, so she only had to design the  decor, which would save a lot of time.  
   
She started with the lounge where two small sofas in the same black fabric as before and a glass coffee table centered the space.  Three of the walls were covered in more bookshelves and the fourth was a black accent with a large mirror in the shape of a sun.  There was a marble fireplace that she would be able to sit in front of in the winter.   A  fluffy, black rug in front of the fire that would be excellent to lay down on.  
   
Now that was taken care of she could move onto her bathroom as she wanted to leave her bedroom to the last minute because that was going to be her ultimate sanctuary.  
   
She went over to the door that was closest to the upstairs lounge and stopped outside the door. She pictured in her head, the floors would be a creamy marble like tiling, there would be a gigantic walk-in shower off to the right that would be able to fit ten people because she hated having a cramped space as it made her claustrophobic. Then on the back wall there would be a massive one sided window so she could have a view and nothing could see in. There would be a massive pool-like bath up on a pedestal that she would step down into, it would have massaging jets and bubbles galore as she liked to occasionally have a relaxing soak after a hard week of work. Then there would be a bowl like raised sink for her to wash up at night, or after going to the toilet and the vanity would have lots of storage for all of her hair products in case there was a formal event. The toilet would be pearly white and the walls would be white with gold finishings.  
   
She didn't bother opening the door, she knew it would be perfect and if it wasn't, she would use one of the three fixes the room allowed later on.  For the moment, she wanted to move onto the bedroom so she could unpack all of her belongings and have a bit of a nap before going to dinner with the rest of the Professors.  
   
She pictured a large room that would have a massive walk in wardrobe where she could get ready for the day and store everything neatly.  There would be plenty of space to hang all of her robes and dresses and then there would be drawers for the rest of her clothing and off to the left would be a shoe rack that would fit all of her many shoes. There would also be a spot to place her jewellery that could be hidden with a wave of her wand after she had chosen her daily pieces.  
   
A feature wall of charcoal black, in the middle of the feature wall would hang a mirror and below would be a king sized black wooden bed with gold and silver bedding, at the end of the bed would be a storage locker that could also double as a seat to put her shoes on in the morning.  
   
On either side of the bed stood a nightstand, black in color, with golden lamps upon their surface.,  A nook by the window would allow her read in at night, or in a cozy reclining chair in the opposite corner.  
   
With that done she opened the door, walking into her perfect bedroom and summoned her luggage so that she could get it all stowed away. Being a witch came in handy when, with a wave of her wand, everything was in it's place and she could begin to relax.  She set the alarm on her wand and laid down in her plush mattress, falling asleep almost instantly.  
   
She hadn't had a single night where she went to sleep and didn't wake screaming. Ever since the war had ended and she had time to really process what had happened at Malfoy Manor, she had been having nightmares about the capture. It wasn't always the same, sometimes it would change and others would join in to torturing her as well.  
   
Today was worse, seeing Malfoy had brought it to the forefront and when she fell asleep, all she could see was him standing over her and being ordered to torture her.  For hours he performed the Cruciatus curse on her in her nightmare, and every time the pain got worse.  She screamed and thrashed, and the pain in her throat from her shrills had woken her only after an hour.  
   
Disheveled with beads of sweat, she knew that if she didn't have a shower before the dinner and meeting that the other Professors would notice and start asking questions.  She had been able to hidden the fears of her nightmares and past well, and sought to keep it that way.. No one else should have to deal with her nightmares.  
   
Entering the main professor’s lounge, she found that she was the last to arrive, which irritated her.  To add to that, the only seat remaining was beside the last person she wanted to sit beside; Malfoy.  
   
She sat down with reluctance and listened in to the conversations going on around her, noticing that her and Draco were the only ones that weren't involved in the discussions.  
   
She surreptitiously glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and saw that he was intently looking at a spot on the table.  
   
She kind of felt the same, like she was an unwanted fly in the room, and she couldn't believe that after only a few years after leaving this place  there were only a few staff members left from her time.  
   
McGonagall stood and welcomed the two of them and then discussed arrangements  about what was going to happen during the term. She gave the job of welcoming the first years to Draco and Hermione so they could start showing a united front to the students. She instructed that they had better start deciding on how they wanted to split up the sorting ceremony and that it had better be quick because the students would be arriving tomorrow.  
   
Once she felt they understood their new roles with the welcoming, she moved on to talk about how each term they would have a different type of activity to promote house bonding. The first would be a dance, and she would have the four younger staff take care of the planning for those activities as they were the ones that the students would connect with the most.  
   
Draco and Hermione both scowled in unison at the thought.  They imagined their dealings with one another would only be so often, but it was looking like they were going to be spending the majority of their time here  together.  
   
This was not good, they couldn't stand being in the same space for more than a few minutes let alone the hours that they would have to spend together, working together.  
   
McGonagall sat down and dinner appeared before them.  Everyone ate quickly and albeit too quietly for Hermione’s taste.. At the end. the Headmistress said they should work out everything tonight so they were well prepared for the events of tomorrow to avoid any problems. And as she had done before, she left before either of them were able to give a response.  
   
The awkward silence that followed was taunting to say the least.  Neither said a word to the other, not wanting to be the first to break the silence.  
   
Then Draco couldn't stand it any longer.  
   
“Do you want to do the greeting when they first arrive or do the sorting hat part? I don't mind either way.” He said with little emotion.  
   
“I have been thinking about it since she gave us the task,” she began fidgeting slightly. “I think we should both do the greeting and walk the students into the hall so it shows house unity to them from word go, they will all know who we are and that we were in rival houses, what do you think?” She asked him.  
   
He looked at her with a look of shock on his face and said, “I like that.  It means we will both put a welcoming front first off and they'll get used to seeing us work together”  
   
“So now all we have to sort out is how we are going to stand and who is going to address what.” Hermione added.  
   
“We should stand side by side at the top of the same spot McGonagall welcomed us.” He motioned with his hands in front of him.  “Walk them up to the stairs and then you should take the part about houses being family and I introduce the houses individually and tell them that we will be taking them into a side room first, then into the main room to deal with the sorting ceremony. I’ll make sure they know we are always around should they need anything, explaining the direction to each house common room.” he said.  
   
“That sounds good actually! Are we both going to each call the students names as well? Or only one of us?” She asked.  
   
“I think we should do some each so that we are showing the older students we are integrated as well,” Draco smiled at her, looking completely unnatural on him, especially when directed at her.  
   
As they sorted out the details, they found it easier and easier to converse with one another. By the time that they got to the seventh floor, they were talking amicably and had put the first foot forward to a better alliance.


	2. The First Day of Term

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco and Hermione start off their first day of Hogwarts with welcoming the first years, will they be able to navigate the task together or will they crash and burn?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me a while to look over and was another fun chapter to write and edit!
> 
> As always thank you so much to my beta Sandra-sempra for all of your hardwork editing and the months of having to deal with my random writing style. Love you so much boo xoxox 
> 
> Next chapter will hopefully be up next week!!!! Hope you enjoy x

Chapter 2: the first day of term  
   
Draco had made his new quarters as different from his suites at home as much as possible so he could possibly get through a night without waking up tangled in sweat stained sheets.. However when he woke and realised he was somewhere unfamiliar, he started to have a panic attack. A tightness in his chest caused great difficulty to breathe, his hands were clammy, and it was like there was a black tunnel coming through his eyes.   
   
As he sat up to let some air into his lungs he squinted, looking out the  window, and remembered he was back at Hogwarts.   Confliction coursed through him as this was where the nightmares had began, yet  also the only place he ever felt truly safe.   
   
His breathing calmed after that,  and his chest loosened up. Relieved, he was able to draw in a breath. He pulled himself out of bed and walked naked to the bathroom to have a long shower to refresh himself.   
   
He remained under the hot, rushing water until the steam had fogged up the room entirely to the point where he could barely see. He turned the water off, and wrapped one of his plush black towels around his waist.   
   
He walked out of the bathroom and across to his wardrobe to get ready for the day, remembering to put his professor robes on early so he could get a feel for them.   He had a few hours before he would have to welcome the first years with Granger so he got down to writing lessons up and laid out the assignments for the term ahead.   The alarm he set on his wand alerted  it was time to head down to the Great Hall for some last minute planning of their speeches and how they would present everything.   
   
He rolled his eyes, seeing Granger already waiting for him with Professor McGonagall, dressed in her professor robes with her hair pulled back into a tight bun at the base of the neck.   He chuckled at the sight of that: her standing directly beside her old favourite professor wearing the same style bun..   It was weird how people emulated their mentors so much, he knew that he was a lot like Severus Snape and had chosen to become a professor for that reason.   
   
As he reached the two women they both turned to him and gave their greetings. He nodded and acknowledged them in turn, and the three stood awkwardly for a moment until McGonagall broke the silence.   
   
“Now since the end of the war we have done things a bit different.  After the feast, one professor from each house when they were at Hogwarts will show the first years to their common rooms.  Now I've already got Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw sorted I wanted to ask if you were willing to be the Gryffindor and Slytherin Professors?” She explained.   
   
Confusion washed over the two former Hogwarts students exchanged glances before nodding at the Headmistress, agreeing to the change and trying to see the reasoning for it.    
   
“Good, now the students should be here soon so you should get into place for the first years.  Be stern enough to frighten them a little  so they follow the rules from the start, but not too much that they have nightmares.” she smiled slightly at the two of them, giving Draco an extra glance with a quirked brow.   They responded with laughter, thinking of the possibilities to scare the students only slightly. They both looked at each other and burst out into laughter and thought of how they could scare them only slightly.   
   
As they shared their chortles, the bloody baron floated past, causing  the two to exchange a smile and shout in unison, “Bloody Baron!”   
   
“Yes, Professors?” He said in his eerie voice.   
   
“Would you be willing to ruffle some feathers in some firsties?  We need to instill the importance of the rules, so we figured scaring them into order would do the trick.  What do you say??” Draco asked crossing his arms.   
   
“Ah. Mr. Malfoy, anything for a fellow Slytherin. You can count on me.” he said bowing in the air and floating to the top of the hall. He was out of sight, but could maintain watch for when the  first years arrive.   
   
Side by side, Draco and Hermione walked down to the entrance to await the  first years in silence. Above them, they heard the returning students making noise and catching up, and the reality hit them that it wouldn't be much longer of a wait.   
   
The knock on the door was abrupt and loud, making Hermione jump in surprise.  When the door swung open, a familiar half giant brought a smile to her face.  Hagrid still held the task of bringing the first years to the castle for the first time.  
   
Memories of their first night at Hogwarts flooded their minds, and they remembered all too well the feeling of having the  shit scared out of them by Professor McGonagall. Now older, they see  that was all a part of the job of welcoming the first years.   
   
The first years looked up at the two professors with nervous looks and no one uttered a peep.   
   
Draco started off, clapping his hands together as he addressed the children, “Welcome, I am Professor Malfoy and this is Professor Granger.  Please follow us! Make sure not to wander off from the group and don't fall behind.  You’ll do well to  pay attention to your surroundings as this will be your only real chance for a tour.”   
   
Hermione scowled at him. The plan they discussed was  to be nice and welcoming, plotting to only scare them with The Bloody Baron.  Absolutely not be scary themselves. It was as if he had transformed into Severus before her very eyes.  
   
The students hastened to follow them and were all looking around the halls with a look of wonderment upon their eager faces. Hermione remembered feeling like that the first time she walked these halls, and envied the surprises they’ve yet to  find.  Upon reaching the staircase in front of the Great Hall, Draco and Hermione stopped.  The students looked about at one another and at their new professors with wonderment.   
   
Hermione didn't waste anytime jumping  straight into it, “Whilst you are here for the next seven years of your lives you will find a family in your fellow classmates.   Though easy to do, don't limit yourself to those in your own house. We will be promoting house unity from now on, meaning all houses will come and work together. As you can see, myself and Professor Malfoy here are the perfect examples of that union being in once rival houses.”   
   
Malfoy picked up and continued after her, “When we attended Hogwarts, we were forced into opinions of one another because of our blood status. It was a major reason for division back then, and many lost their lives through the prejudice. Opinions forced upon the other due to the houses were also forced..”   
   
“We fought a war when we were all but seventeen and that's why we want to have a change. We will be working closely with students of all years to prevent that from happening again,” Hermione managed with a smile and scanned the students’ expressions.  Their eyes were wider than before, and many looked to be catching flies with their open mouths.   
   
“Now the houses; Slytherin for those cunning and ambitious, Hufflepuff for the loyal and patient, Ravenclaw with their wit and knowledge, and Gryffindor for the brave and chivalrous. These houses will be your family.” Draco explained.   
   
Hermione continued seamlessly, as if they had practiced their speech for hours, “any good deeds and behaviour will earn your house points and any rule breaking and misbehaviours will cause you lose them for your whole house.”  
   
“Any rule breakers will also be sent to the Bloody Baron to serve detention in the Dungeon,”Draco finished.  One of  their students asked who the Bloody Baron was, and before Draco could respond, The Slytherin house ghost swooped down on que and said, “I'm the Bloody Baron!” in an angry bellowing shout.   
   
The children gulped in unison, and The Baron continued, “I don't take too kindly to rule breakers.” He pulled his ghostly rapier from its sheath, “They need to be taught a lesson they would never forget, and I'm willing to do whatever is  necessary”.   
   
Hermione stepped in, acknowledging the Baron with great respect to show the students his words held true, “Thank you Baron, I’m sure our students understand the grave consequences in full now.”  The Baron tipped his hat with his hand, and soared off.  Hermione turned her attention back fully to the students, “Now where were we, ah yes at the end of each year the house cup will be awarded to the house with the most points.”   
   
The kids perked up at this, murmuring to one another about how they would win the  cup for their house. . She quickly found the Gryffindors of the group.  
   
“House Quidditch teams host games on the school grounds, and as a promotion of continued house bonding,  is allowing first years to tryout.” Draco added with a grin, knowing  some of the children would find this more interesting.  
   
Looking at Draco for confirmation, Hermione directed them to the anteroom off the Great Hall before getting the sorting hat ready.   
   
“Now before we get started, you will wait here. Once we return we will lead you into the Great Hall and you will be sorted in front of your peers,” Hermione explained.  And with that, the two professors left the first years in the room.   
   
“That was satisfactory. We worked well together,” Draco said sounding a tad surprised.   
   
“Well.. whether we’d like to admit it or not, Draco Malfoy, I’m afraid we are like more than we realize.” Hermione said simply,“We better get the sorting hat in place.”   
   
“Ah… yeah” shaking off some kind of stupor.   
   
They walked together and set up quickly. Draco went to bring the first years to the Great Hall , whilst Hermione went ahead and put the stool and hat front and center,  waiting for the first years to come in so she could give him the signal to sing.   Headmistress McGonagall had explained how the hat would need to be queued, as the old hat wasn’t able to sense when to begin. Whoever was running the sorting process had to give him some kind of signal.   
   
The doors glided open, and Malfoy led the small group of first years to their appropriate positions, and Hermione tapped the stool for the hat would get ready.    
   
The ancient brown hat’s brim opened wide and started to sing:   
   
“A thousand years or more ago there were four friends who had a dream of educating the young witches and wizards forever more.   
   
They built a castle and named it hogwarts, they made four houses one for each and chose which students they would teach.   
   
Now I could go into great detail about what each house entails but I have a different purpose today and that is to unify the four houses as the founders once wanted.   
   
You may look beside you and see your best friend but look across the hall to the end and see whether they will still be there.   
   
You have to look to the other houses and see whether you may find a friend in Slytherin or Gryffindor or Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.   
   
So my message this year is simple branch out and find a new friendship, don't stick to your own house table sit together on all of the tables, no house separation this year.   
   
Now let us sort the new students into their houses so they too can belong and find new friends”   
   
Draco pulled out the scroll with names, scanning the students before him, “Now when myself or Professor Granger call your names, come up and sit on the stool so we can place the sorting hat on your head.”   
   
The older students looked on with expressions of indifference, noting the change of having two opposing house professors presenting the ceremony. Most of the students recognised the two from the prophet.   
   
Hermione looked at the list and called, “Andrews, Shelley,” a shy looking, little brown haired girl slowly walked up looking as if she was going to be sick. She turned around faced the other students and Draco placed the hat on her head.   
   
The room fell silent as everyone waited.  Hermione checked her clock to find that it had been around two minutes when the hat’s brim opened wide and shouted, “RAVENCLAW!” Shelley took the hat off, passed it to Hermione and went to the table that was clapping the loudest and was welcomed quickly.    
   
They went through the list in no particular pattern, Hermione and Draco both calling names as they made their way down the list. When they got to the M’s, Hermione recognised the name of a  young boy from the muggle town where she used to live.   
   
“Malcolm, Ryan”   
   
The young boy smiled up at her knowingly, excited to see a familiar face as he  basically ran up the steps, turned around and sat on the stool.   
   
Hermione had an idea where he would be placed as Draco lowered the hat on the young boy’s head.  When the hat called out, “SLYTHERIN,” she caught herself smirking due to  guessing right.   
The table over to the left went wild to welcome their newest house member.  The Malcolm boy glanced back at Hermione with a wink and ran over to the Slytherin table.   
   
Malfoy whispered to her “ha and you thought Gryffindor would get more students”.   
   
“Shut up Malfoy let's get this done!” She shot back.   
   
Malfoy read the next name out “Nichols, Shania”   
   
A black haired girl walked calmly up to the stool and sat to listen to where the hat would place her.   It seemed to take the longest of all the sortings when the brim opened and “GRYFFINDOR” Hermione smirked at Draco when he was facing her and he seemed to smile ever so slightly.   
   
Of all the tables, it was the Gryffindor table that grew the wildest when they welcomed their new house member.   
   
They worked their way through the list, both sharing a look of sadness when they called the final name, “Wilks, Michael.”   They remembered the name from those who had fallen as one of the first year females that never got out. They shared similar expressions, as the other professors sat with downcast eyes.  
   
The boy walked up slowly, looked the two new Professors in the eyes, and gave them a small smile as he  sat on the stool waiting to see if he would be follow in his sister’s footsteps of the badger..   
   
Conversation emerged silently between the boy and that old hat, and Draco witnessed a tear roll down the side of his small face.  He felt a pull as he felt sorry for the young boy.   The hat finally decided, and the brim opened and shouted, “HUFFLEPUFF,” exactly where his sister had been placed. All the students clapped loudly whereas the teachers all sat in silence.   
   
Relief washed over Hermione and Draco as  the sorting ceremony was over. They rolled the scroll up, and Draco went to take the hat back to its spot until tomorrow when they would need it to sort the students into their respective groups.   
   
When he returned and sat down next to Granger, The Headmistress stood up and smiled out to all the students, “Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts for all you  returning  students, and a warm welcome to a new year for our new students. We have some new Professors that I would like to introduce this year.  Firstly, we have Professor Hermione Granger, the new charms professor.” Hermione stood up and waved, scanning the room briefly with a pursed smile before sitting  back down.   
   
“Professor Draco Malfoy, our newest Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor.” Draco rose only  slightly from his chair, giving a subtle wave, not really engaging in being the centre of attention.   
   
“Professor Michelle Burns for Muggle Studies.” The witch stood up and beamed at the students, eagerly lingering in the standing position too long, and had to be told to sit down. Shifting their eyes, Draco and Hermione exchanged a look, fighting back the sniggers..   
   
“Now, last but not least our new Arithmancy professor, Thomas Derk.” Most of the professors leaned forward,  peering down the line to see a man with wild, brown hair that stuck out at all angles and had  quite handsome features.   
   
He sat back down quite quickly, looking down at his plate and seeming to be shy. Though most at the table didn’t seem to notice, Draco and Hermione shared a glance at the new professor’s diffident demeanor..   
   
When she finished the speech and introductions, McGonagall quickly instructed the students for the feast,  then the first years would follow one of the four new Professors to their common rooms and the rest of the students are to welcome them there.  
   
After an hour of everyone gorging out on food, the plates cleared and all of the students above first year stood up and dispersed. Hermione, Draco, Michelle and Thomas stood up and went to their respective houses tables and told the first years to follow them.   
   
Hermione smiled as she saw the nervous faces stand to follow her reluctantly. On the way to the Gryffindor Tower, she couldn’t help but quote Hogwarts, A History as she pointed out intricate details  about the castle, then explained about the staircases. She made sure the students knew where the professors’ lounges were located, should they need anything, and allowed them to take in the corridors where their first classes will be held, to avoid another mishap like Harry and Ron.  She understood the importance that the new house unity rules bestowed upon them, however she will always have a soft spot for the Gryffindors and would help them as much as possible.    
   
When they finally  reached the seventh floor and the corridor to the Gryffindor tower, she turned to the students and told them about the Fat Lady.   She instructed that they stay stern and persistent with her, as she will try to distract them with her constant singing. She also explained that the password would be changed regularly and they weren't to tell anyone what it was and most importantly, they weren't to write it down.   
   
The little black haired girl, Shania Nichols if Hermione recalled, placed her hand in the air.   
   
“Yes, miss Nichols, is it?” She asked.   
   
“That's it Professor Granger, I was wondering why you stated that we weren't to write our password down? Is there any specific reason for this?” Shania asked.   
   
“Ahh… picked up on that did you?”she asked and the girl nodded.  
   
“Well in my third year at Hogwarts, Sirius Black, who was falsely believed to be a traitor, escaped Azkaban and came here to find Peter Pettigrew, who was the actual culprit to his crimes, he tried to get into the common room and slashed the fat lady to pieces,” she looked around to make sure they were all still listening and continued.   
   
“We got this silly portrait in replacement until she was repaired and there was this forgetful boy in my grade, Neville Longbottom, who the portrait gave all the passwords he was going to use for the month and Neville wrote them down. Now at the time we thought Sirius was there to kill Harry Potter.”   
   
The first years all looked shocked but stayed quiet to hear the rest of the story.   
   
“Neville dropped the piece of paper accidentally and Sirius got in and scared us all to bits, so it's extremely important you never write them down, even if there isn't an accused mass murderer on the loose.”  They all quickly agreed and she moved forward to the portrait.   
   
“Hermione Granger, it has been a long time since I've seen your face, I hope you are well,” the Fat Lady said.   
   
“ I am well.  These are the new first years, and the password is Lightning Strikes,” Hermione stated and winked at the kids.   
   
“Oh very well, still not one for chit chat I see.  You may enter,” she said as she swung open to allow them to pass.   
   
They followed Hermione through the door and came through to a wall of noise of all of the older Gryffindors welcoming them.   
   
“QUIET!” Hermione shouted, “Now I know you all want to welcome the new Gryffindors.  I remember wanting to do the same, but prefects please show them to their rooms first and then you may do whatever it is you want until lights out.” Two students in the front nodded to her and she turned to leave  them to it.   
   
She knew that she had to meet the others in the main Professor's Lounge to start planning the first event for house unity, but she wanted to take her time and get reacquainted with the halls and see what new additions they had added when they had rebuilt after the battle.   
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are always appreciated but not required Kudos are always fun as well! Hope you had fun reading this!!


	3. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to change between the four new professors. What will happen when Dirk and Draco butt heads?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the late update!!! It’s taken me a while to be happy with this chapter as I’ve had so much going on writing wise. My aim for this story is to have it completed by June/July so bare with me over the next few months and then when this ones finished there is a new Dramione chapter fic that is almost finished in the works!!! 
> 
> Thank you to BeachMomma77 for betaing this for me!!!

Yesterday had resulted in a full day of sitting in the Great Hall, completing their sorting of the joint classes. Now, Draco and Hermione stood in front of their class together, wondering how they were going to engage these teenagers to work together.

There were a few from each house, and the Slytherins and Gryffindors were at each other's throats as usual. Luckily, Shania Nichols and Ryan Malcolm from Gryffindor and Slytherin respectively, were not hostile.

Hermione glanced at her fellow professor, who looked just as exasperated as she was. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. She cleared her throat.

“Okay students, may I have your attention? We would like you to get a piece of parchment and write where you are from, who your family and friends are, and any interests you have. Now, the catch is, we do not want you to put your names on the assignment, nor do we want you to list any last names of your friends and family so that we can try and guess which parchment belongs to who.”

They all got their parchment and quills out and went quiet. All that could be heard throughout the classroom was the rough scratching of quills over parchment.

Draco shifted, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned in against the desk next to Hermione. “What is the point of this activity?”

  
She shot him a side glance. “To find out what they truly know and don’t about each other and establish common interests without the interference of knowing their house," she explained.

Twenty minutes passed before the last pupil put down their quill. Hermione gathered their parchments and began to read them aloud.

“I'm from Coventry, I have me mum Gloria, me dad Stephen, a little sister Julia and three best friends named Ryan, Jessica, and Nathaniel. I have varied interests which are flying, reading, painting and calligraphy. I adore the way that the script flows across the page.” She finished and said, “can anyone take a guess to who this is?”

A Ravenclaw fifth year placed his hand in the air and said, “the Gryffindor first year sitting there?”

Draco looked at Shania and asked, “is he correct Miss Nichols?”

She nodded and looked at Ryan and smiled, knowing that his would be as easy as hers was. It was basically the same after all, minus the calligraphy.

“Okay I guess I'll read the next one,” Draco began as he picked up the next scroll of parchment in his hands. “I'm from Surrey, I live with my nana Eileen, I'm the only child my mum and dad had and I have a best friend Shaun. I like camping and hiking but that's about it. Who am I?” He looked around to see if anyone had their hands up, and noticed that the Slytherin sixth year, Lyra was laughing.

“Remember this is not a time to laugh. This is to get to know your classmates, and see what makes them tick,” Draco said and saw out of the corner of his eye Hermione looking quite happy with him. In turn, this gave him an odd feeling he wasn't going to explore.

He cleared his throat.

The Slytherin girl stopped her chortles and threw her hand up. “That's Davids," she proclaimed while pointing at the Ravenclaw, who has spoken previously. His expression clearly stated he was shocked that she knew it was his, and Draco moved on.

They worked their way through each student's parchment and by the end of the class, the students were looking at each other with a new light.

The Slytherin girl named Lyra, who had previously been laughing at David, was now walking out of the room with him while talking animatedly. Hermione puffed her chest with pride and considered their first lesson a success.

“We deviated off the plan a bit, but it worked out well I think. Maybe we shouldn't plan our lessons at all. We should see where the day takes us,” Draco said, nodding at their successful day.

“I agree. It shouldn't be a class that is set out because it's going to be unpredictable.” She replied.

“Okay, now that our first class is done and dusted, we better get across to this planning meeting with the other two,” Draco said and gestured to the door to let her go first.

They both walked out of the classroom and headed to the Ravenclaw Professors lounge.

**oOo**

They arrived after Professors Burn and Derk, who were already seated comfortably around the table and had pieces of parchment out and ready.

Draco sat next to Professor Burn for two reasons - there was no way he was going to sit near Professor Derk and it was better to sit between the two women. Professor Burn immediately tensed and blushed when she realised that she was in between the two gentlemen. She had probably been hoping that Granger would sit here, Draco thought.

“Okay so what should we do first? Should we leave it until Halloween next month or should we start it this month?” As usual Granger got right down to business.

“I think we should do a Hogsmeade visit this month and then next month should be Halloween centric. The joined classes should be grouped together,” Derk said.

Draco rolled his eyes. 'Of course," he thought. 'What better way to spend the day than to hang out with Granger and her male version.' His eyes moved towards the other woman, Michelle, who sat silently as if pretending to fade in the background.

“Okay, do you two agree on that? So we can pick a date for the Hogsmeade visit and start planning the Halloween activities!” Hermione asked them.

“Yes, Granger, let's get this done so I can go and do more important things,” Draco said.

She scowled at him and continued, “Okay what about the last Saturday of the month so they can have a nice day out. I think we should have one on the Twenty-sixth of October so that they can get anything they need for Halloween, sound good to you all?”

They all nodded and scribbled down those two dates and sat there waiting for her to take over again like she obviously wanted to.

“I think we should do some muggle activities and some wizarding activities for Halloween to stop the stigma of the difference between them,” Hermione stated.

“Do we really need to do something muggle?” Draco asked.

“Yes I think we should, it'll teach the purebloods a bit about how muggles celebrate the holiday,” Michelle spoke up.

Hermione smiled and said, “that's exactly what I had envisioned! Maybe set up a 'haunted house' and host trick or treating early in the day, then we move onto something wizard-like.”

They all agreed so that they could move on, Hermione was diligently keeping notes so had everything written down.

“What should we do for the wizard side?” Derk asked.

“A ball, the pureblood families of old used to have one for every holiday, it was a great excuse to show off their wealth” Draco stated.

“See that's why we need your input, Malfoy, you know the wizard side of things” Hermione stated with a smile.

Draco got that weird feeling again when she approved of his input and shook it off he couldn't let anything get in the way of his teaching career, this was his way to repent for his family's involvement in the war.

They spoke for a while more and organised to meet in a week to iron the details of everything but all four of them were happy that they had at least accomplished something in the three hours that they had been in the room.

“Okay, now can I go? I need to do something before dinner,” Draco asked Hermione.

“Yeah, sure I do too,” she said. They all got up and left the room to do their own thing.

**oOo**

Hermione was in her study early on Saturday morning when the alarm on her want went off, alerting her that someone was at her door. To her surprise, Professor Derk stood outside, smiling.

“Professor, what can I do for you?” she asked. Purposely blocking the door so he would know that he wasn't welcome in her quarters, since the end of the war it took Hermione a lot longer to trust anyone and allow them into her personal space.

Thomas looked at her curiously but accepted it “I was wondering if you would like to meet at the Professor's lounge later and have dinner, to try and get better acquainted?”

"Oh... I'm not sure I'm ready yet, perhaps another day?"

“Where's that Gryffindor nature that you are so known for?” He asked.

“That left me when the war ended, I don't jump into things without forethought anymore” she said.

He smiled awkwardly. “It changed a lot of people, didn't it? I finished Hogwarts the year before Voldemort came back so I have trouble knowing what it was like being here at that point and fighting in the war because I wasn't in England at the time”.

“I wish sometimes that I had of been able to escape, it was a hard time for all of us, especially for those that were close to Harry, from our first year at Hogwarts we had started to fight the war,” she explained.

“That would have been horrid. I remember looking at you all in those first three years wondering what you all had been through to have this look of alertness that I had only ever seen in my parents when I was younger in the first war” he said, “It should not have been present in children.”

“I feel like a lot of the things that we did could have been avoided if we had of been able to trust our word would be enough but from the very beginning all of the Professors gave us a look of distrust when we told them something was happening.”

“Well I hope we can change this with our students, maybe we can help each other achieve this,” he said.

Hermione peered out into the corridor and making sure no one was around, “Maybe we can, but for now I really must ask you to leave I’ve got a lot to do to prepare for the coming week, tomorrow we can look at starting to get to know each other.”

Thomas smiled down at her, “I would like that very much. For now we will say goodbye, See you in tomorrow Professor Granger.” He said with his hand extended.

She shook his hand, and went back to her quarters to start writing her lesson plan, and thought a trip to the library was also in order.

**oOo**

Hermione walked into the Library and headed straight to the back, where the book she needed was. She quickly grabbed the book and turned to leave, when she bumped into something solid. The next thing she knew, she'd stumbled and the book flew out of her hand.

She looked up and sighed. Of course it was Malfoy. She couldn't quite escape him as of late it seems, and this joint class and meetings thing was horrible to say the least. But now he was encroaching on her sanctuary!

“Watch it, Granger, I was walking here,” he said trying to hold a laugh in. He had purposely knocked into her when he had seen her to get a rise out of her.

“Excuse me! I was here first, so you watch where you're going!” She growled just as he had hoped she would.

“I don't care if you thought you were first, I was minding my own business when you rudely turned and bumped into me. Is it my fault you can't watch where you're going?” He questioned her, trying not to snicker as her face grew more red as he spoke to express her blatant frustration towards him.

“Argh! Malfoy, why can't you take responsibility for anything you do!”

“Maybe because everyone should cater to me,” he replied facetiously. His words were false, but it was too easy to get her going.

“Ugh!” She exclaimed and tried to walk away. Draco stepped back in front of her and wouldn't let her leave, every time that she tried to move around him he would counter.

“We aren't finished here, Granger,” he ordered.

“Well you may not be finished, Malfoy, but I am. I've got more important things to do than to stand around arguing with you,” her face was scrunched in irritation.

“I thought we were going to try and be civilised too each other?” He questioned her with a smirk spread wide across his face, unable to hold back his amusement.

“In front of others we will, but I don't want anything to do with anyone, especially you Malfoy. I'm not in the right mind to spend time with others on my own time,” she explained and tried to slip past him, but once again he moved with her.

“Move Malfoy before I make you,” she growled out.

“Not until you agree to spend at least an hour with me later.” His smirk morphed into a grin at her reaction, “ We need to start planning how things will be run when we are in public, and how our classes should be run,” he demanded of her.

“Fine, meet me in the Gryffindor Professors lounge later and we will work on it there,” Draco rolled his eyes but quickly agreed, as it was something.

Small steps would be needed to be taken to get her to trust him, he needed her to trust him and forgive him for his part in the war, yes she had been a witness at his trial and helped him keep his freedom but he needed her to say that she forgave him. He also wouldn't mind being friends with her, he had taken a while but he realised the reason he hated her at school was that they had a lot in common. Reluctantly, he let her pass, and headed to his quarters to relax for a bit before meeting back up with her later, where he would need his wits about him.

**oOo**

Hermione hurried to the Gryffindor Professors lounge a few hours later. She would've gone sooner, but her body ached for a nap. She hoped to high heavens that Draco was running late as well. Unfortunately, she saw him through the crack of the door as she rounded the corner. His intense gaze deflated her at once.

"Merlin, you're actually late, Granger! What has this world come to when the know-it-all of Hogwarts is miraculously late for a meeting!"

She scowled and ignored him in place of opening the entrance with the password, “Chivalry,” the door opened and they entered. Hermione went straight for the lounges near the fireplace, as was her custom.

Draco instantly sat down beside her and was impossibly close to her. She shifted uncomfortably but refused to appear weak to him so she didn't move. She pulled out a piece of parchment and her quill and got ready to take notes on the arrangements for their lesson plans..

“Granger put that away, we need to clear the air and get to know each other a bit better,” he began lowering her quill from her hand, “If we don't have something we know about the other and we haven't got some kind of friendship, it's going to show to the students and they are going to mirror us. We need to show them house unity for them to have it,” he finished and made sure that she was looking at him to ensure she was actually listening to what he said.

“Fine, what do you want to know - for the students,” she responded.

“First, why are you here? You had an amazing job. Why leave?” Draco went straight to the point as he wasn't taking any punches.

“Do you really think that's any of your business, Malfoy?” Hermione asked.

“To be able to be sensitive to you I really must, because what if I say the wrong thing? I don't want our partnership as Professors to be hindered by me saying the wrong thing!” He stressed.

“Fine then, but this is under protest. I have suspected for years that something was happening with Ronald, he was distant and was always coming up with some excuse not to be intimate,” at that Draco scoffed.

Hermione gave him an odd look, curious to his response, but continued, “In August, I came home from a hard day at work and I instantly knew something was wrong because Ronald was home before me and he hadn't been for a while.”

“What was he doing?” Draco asked

“Be patient I was getting to it. I walked into the house and there was silence, now that was weird in itself as there was usually some noise throughout the house. I realised that a muffliato had been cast so I searched for Ronald and when I reached the kitchen I found him…” she paused to pull herself together as she was getting a bit upset.

“Granger -” His voice falling off not knowing what else to say.

“I found him.. with Pansy Parkinson… they were on my kitchen table,” she looked down to her lap not wanting to see what his reaction was.

“Hey… look at me…” when she didn't, he raised her face to his before saying, “he is a right git…. and you deserve better than that.”

Hermione managed to smile. “Thanks Draco. Anyway, what brought you to teaching?” she asked trying to change the topic sooner than later.

He knew she needed to talk about something else, and he didn't want to upset her further.

Draco concentrated his mind on other things. Things like the weird feeling that had come on when she had said his first name. He realized he didn't want that to be on the last time basis anymore with her, and told himself he would ask if they could refer to one another by their first names.

“I have been out of the public eye for a while, trying to keep a low profile and I found that running the family business wasn't rewarding anymore. I wasn't finding any love for my job anymore and had decided that I was going to look for something else,” he looked at Hermione and saw that she was listening intently so continued, “when Professor McGonagall came to see me to offer a job, I only thought about it for a second and accepted to be helping the younger generation not go through what we did,” he finished with a smile.

“So nothing as interesting as me,” Hermione joked.

“Your story wasn't interesting, it's maddening, and I'm confused on how Weasel could ever think about leaving you or cheating on you,” he said and then added. “Especially with a right hook like you’ve got” holding his chin and bringing it back to the time she punched him in the face in third year.

He smiled and bumped shoulders with her, causing a laugh to escape her lips.

“Okay now that we each know why the other is here, let's get to know each other and learn how to be civil….. first step could be us calling each other by our first names… Hermione,” he said, nervous she wouldn't accept that.

“Oh…. yeah we can call each other by our first names if we want… Draco,” she smiled up at him.

They sat talking for hours, getting to know each other and planning their lessons. After they had gotten the details sorted Draco asked Hermione if she was going to watch the first Quidditch match and if she was would she want to make a wager on the winning team. He was doing it to get close to her, and they could leave everything that had happened in the past. He knew it would be hard, but they could try their hardest and the determined Slytherin inside of him would make it happen.

Hermione agreed, only because of the old house rivalry. They decided that was enough for the day and walked back to their quarters together agreeing to meet up before going to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy xx


	4. Hogsmeade Visits and New friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione, Draco and Thomas escort the students to Hogsmeade and have a run in with Ron. What happens?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Beachmomma77 for betaing for me once again!!!! 
> 
> The next chapter is well on it’s way to being done!!!! 
> 
> Hope you like xx

Draco and Thomas stood by the door, both staying silent, pretending the other did not exist. They hadn't wanted to even deal with each other today, but then Hermione had said she wanted to hang out with the both of them and not wanting to disappoint her and not wanting to leave the other alone with her they had both agreed. 

 

Now she was running late and the students and Professor Burns were all standing around waiting for them and Hermione was still not in sight. 

 

“You know, you could go along with the students and we could meet you down there when Hermione is ready?” Draco questioned him hopefully. 

 

“Nice try, you could go along with the students and myself and Hermione could meet you down there,” Thomas said. Smirking at Draco. 

 

“Yeah, not going to happen. I'm trying to get in her good books, I did a lot to her back in Hogwarts and I want to make up for that.” 

 

“That's exactly why I'm going to be the better friend, I never did anything to her back in school and I've been nothing but nice to her since we all started here.” a clear of the throat and both of them spun. Hermione stood there in her teachers’ robes and a pair of jeans with a red blouse. Her hair was pulled back in one of her tight buns. 

 

“So time to go down?” Both men breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t heard their previous conversation and nodded. Gesturing to Professor Burns, they directed her they were ready. 

 

The students began to walk down the lane and the three professors followed closely behind, making idle chatter as they went. Both Draco and Thomas getting along with one another, for the sake of Hermione. 

 

If she sensed any awkwardness between them, she didn’t say anything and Draco was happy with that. 

 

“Where do you want to go to first, Hermione?” He asked. 

 

“Is that even a question worth asking?” She said cheekily, bumping her shoulder against his. 

 

“Let me guess?” He said brushing his chin as if he was pondering, “Tomes and Scroll?” 

 

Hermione nodded and smiled at him. 

 

“I thought you’d want to go to The Three Broomsticks, first?” Thomas questioned her. 

 

“Oh no, I always wait until after the crowds die down, and I’ve been wanting to check if there are any new books on Charms while I’m down in the village.” 

 

Draco felt slightly smug, knowing he had known where Hermione would want to go and  _ Dirk _ didn’t. Draco still couldn’t fathom calling him by his first name, he gave off a weird vibe that Draco didn’t like. 

 

Heading through the village, the three professors dodged the students and other patrons making their way to the famous bookstore. 

 

As they entered, a bell rang overhead and a hunched over, elderly witch came walking forward with a smile on her face. Draco knowing when Hermione got into a bookstore or library she could be lost for hours sat in a comfy lounge and grabbed a random book to pass the time.  

 

Hours later, when he had finished the book, and his stomach was rumbling, he knew it was time to go track her down and drag her out. Dirk was sitting bored in a corner and looked slightly put out that Hermione was more excited about spending time with the books that she was spending time with them. 

 

Finding her near the back he patiently waited for her to grab one more book and then gestured towards the door, signalling it was time for lunch. 

 

Hermione frowned at the large pile of books she had collected, and shrugged heading to the cashier she paid for her books, and then one by one she placed them in her purple bag she still carried around. 

 

As they left the store, Draco groaned. Up ahead was the Weasel and Parkinson hand in hand walking through the village. 

 

Hermione looked up at him confused, then following the direction he was staring her face fell. She had hoped she wouldn’t run into them, eternity was too soon for her. 

 

Raising her chin slightly, she bravely walked forward toward Honeydukes intent on walking past them without any confrontation, when the Weasel noticed her and headed toward them. He couldn’t leave well enough alone. 

 

“Hermione! Haven’t seen you since..” looking toward Pansy, he trailed off awkwardly. Not knowing what to do, both Draco and Thomas stood protectively behind Hermione, willing to step in at a moments notice. 

 

Pansy had a permanent scowl, present on her face and was arm in arm with Weasley. “Lowering yourself to this filth, Draco? Your father would be ashamed.” 

 

“Unlike you Parkinson, I don’t need my father's approval anymore, I’ve made something of myself and you’re one to talk? Hanging out with this poor, pathetic excuse for a wizard?” Draco said, his voice dripping with disgust. 

 

“I’ll have you know, Ronald just got a promotion at work. He’s now heading a team of investigators.” She responded proudly. 

 

“Congratulations  _ Ronald _ ” Hermione smiled slightly. 

 

“You’re really hanging with  _ this scum,  _ ‘Mione?” Ron spat. 

 

“Like you can talk, Weasel. Look at the company you keep.” A gasp from Pansy’s direction clearly showed she had actually understood what he was saying for once. 

 

“Shut up, Death Eater.” 

 

Pulling her wand, she held it against his throat. “Don’t call him that, he has changed and made something of himself, unlike you.” 

 

Ron gulped, nodding he held his hands up placatingly and tried to step back. Hermione followed, “Now apologise and be on your way.” 

 

“ _ Sorry ferret.”  _

 

“I don’t really care,  _ Weasel.” _ Hermione turned slightly scowling at Draco, shrugging he stood watching her in action, defending  _ him  _ instead of the person who had been her life since they started school all those years ago. 

 

“Just go Ron, I have nothing more to say to you, all I had to say to you ended when I found you on our kitchen table, with  _ this skank. _ ” Gesturing toward Pansy. 

 

Ron frowned at her, “you’ve changed ‘Mione.” With those simple words he turned and walked through the village, hearing the crack of  _ Apparition _ up ahead she breathed a sigh of relief. 

 

“Honeydukes, then?” She asked and walked into the candy store, heading directly toward the sugar quills. She needed her release and this was the only way to get it.  _ By having her favourite candy. _

 

Draco grabbed them off her and when she tried to take them back, he shook his head and grabbed some for himself. “It’s on me.” 

 

“Thanks,  _ Draco.”  _ Smiling up at him she headed back out to where Thomas was standing, watching their interactions. 

 

“You are closer to him than anyone else, aren’t you?” He questioned quietly. 

 

“I feel like he gets being pushed away from all of your friends. When I left Ronald, most of my friends seemed to have drifted away too. Then I came to Hogwarts and there was Draco willing to help and laugh with me.” 

 

“I get that, do you have room in your life for another  _ friend _ ?” Looking down at her, he waited. 

 

“I think I do Thomas.” 

 

“Good.” 

 

At that moment Draco walked back out, “Where to next?” 

 

“I was thinking The Three Broomsticks, for some lunch and either a butterbeer or fire whiskey,” Hermione said as she started to walk. 

 

“Definitely Fire whiskey.” Draco and Thomas said in unison. 

 

Walking through the students in the pub was harder than it had seemed when she was a student herself. They didn’t have long so they ordered stew and some fire whiskey, sat down, talked about what was coming up next and then helped Professor Burns get the students back up to the castle. 

 

Thomas left them on the third floor, for his sleeping quarters and Draco walked Hermione to her door and handed her candy to her, “If you need me I’m only next door, I had fun today.” 

 

“Thank you, Draco,” Hermione said, standing slightly on her toes, she kissed his cheek and walked into her quarters pulling her new books out and starting to read through them. 

 

Draco lingered for a moment, smiling so far his new found friendship was perfect and his job was amazing. Heading into his own quarters he picked up one of his books and made some notes on some lessons he could do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks y’all for reading hope you enjoy xxx


	5. Halloween Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween is here and all their planning comes to the forefront! Dance and haunted classrooms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thank you to BeachMomma77 for taking the time to beta this for me!!! 
> 
> Oh and look at that a chapter so soon!!!!
> 
> Hope you enjoy x

A month of planning and organising how they were going to set things up and Halloween was finally here, Hermione looked around her classroom and the passageway that passed to Draco’s and was amazed how well the prefects and head boy and girl had done at transforming the two rooms into the perfect haunted house. 

 

There was the skeleton that would drop as the students entered and the ghosts that were tasked with popping through the students all afternoon. The hallway that led between the two rooms had a giant spider that would leap out and the red eyes would light up as they moved through. 

 

Then in the DADA classroom were boggarts that guaranteed to make the experience all the more frightening. They would then exit the classroom and Professors Derk and Burns would be outside ready to show them how the muggles would go trick or treating for an hour each group. 

 

Then at 5 o'clock the students would separate and go back to their common rooms to get ready for the ball that would start at sunset at 7 o'clock where there would be a three course meal and dancing festivities which the students had been learning different styles that the purebloods enjoyed. 

 

Hermione had already pinned her hair for the night, she knew that she would have to fix it up closer to the dance but she wanted to have time to put her makeup on and get into her dress. 

 

Draco had picked between three dresses and she was actually happy with his choice. The other Professors had been giving them curious looks but they were way off the mark with their opinions. 

 

The rumours had spread like wildfire within the staff. They all thought that something more was between the two besides the close friendship that had bloomed over the last month. 

 

One of the older Professors couldn't understand how Hermione could have forgotten everything that happened when they were younger so quickly that she was stupid for trusting him so easily. 

 

Hermione thought that they were stuck in the past and should move on, there was no use holding onto old grudges and it wasn't going to help them move into a better future if she did write him off and hate him for what he did in his youth. 

 

No it was time to leave the past in the past, that was why she had asked his opinion on the dress because as a pureblood wizard he would know the right style for a ball to showcase their side of Halloween. 

 

She brung three for him to choose from - a dark midnight blue dress which had little diamontes all over it that would sparkle when it swayed, an emerald green with slithers of gold thread all through it that accented her figure, and then the red dress with a silver overlay that gave it a slight shimmer. 

 

He had of course chose the green and gold number, it was Slytherin with a bit of Gryffindor gold. He liked the way it showed the curves of her figure, had gotten a look that she had never seen on his face in relation to her, admiration, he admired how she had grown into her body and become an adult. 

 

There was another look that she couldn't translate but she didn't want to look too much into it in case it was something that she wouldn't like. 

 

She wasn't going to participate in the muggle side of the Halloween activities as she wanted to have a nice long bath before getting ready. Draco had agreed to running the activities that they had been assigned with one of the Slytherin Prefects so that she could relax and not be uptight for the festivities. 

 

He had to add the last part into get a reaction out of her, she had gotten slightly pissed and said she wasn't uptight and he had held his hand up in surrender and said that he was joking. 

 

He was only trying to let her relax because so much planning had gone into this night. 

 

Draco waved her off and told her to hurry up and go or he would change his mind and make her deal with the students alongside him. 

 

He couldn't wait until the ball in a few hours, he was looking forward to seeing Hermione in the dress he had picked, her in Slytherin colours did his number in, she looked amazing in all colours but green worked so well with her skin tone and hair colour and made her chocolate eyes pop out. 

 

He basically floated through the trick or treating and the haunted classrooms, the time went by so quickly that when Professor Burns said to the students that it was time to go get ready he was shocked. 

 

He had been thinking about Hermione sitting in her bath the whole time and he was feeling a bit hot under the collar and needed to get up to his quarters to have a cold shower before getting ready. 

 

He wasn't going to go down to the Great Hall and wait for Hermione like they had planned, he was going to meet her outside of her quarters so that he could get the first glimpse of her and get himself under control before they had to spend hours together in a room full of teenagers. 

 

He didn't know when he had started to think Hermione was hot but now he couldn't get her off of his mind there wasn't a moment that she wasn't on his mind under some capacity, even if it was how melodic her voice sounded or how excited she looked when he brought her a new book to read. 

 

Only an hour had passed by the time he got out of the shower and he still had 30 minutes left until he could meet Hermione, she had said to meet her at six forty five so he knew that she would leave her room at six-thirty so he had to be outside her door at six twenty-five. 

 

She was nothing if she wasn't right on schedule so he needed to hurry and get into his dress robes and spike his hair within fifteen minutes. 

 

He raced into his bathroom got his wand out and used a styling spell to get it right and make sure that there wasn't a hair out of place, once that was done he went back into his bedroom to his bed where he had placed everything he was going to be wearing this morning and got dressed quickly flattening any wrinkles out and ran out of the room to meet Hermione. 

 

As he arrived outside of his portrait she was coming out and not in his wildest dreams could he have pictured that she would be this stunning. 

 

The dress clung to her figure and showed her best features off and enhanced her small features, her brown shiny hair was half up and half down in curls that cascaded down her back. 

 

The green and gold colour of the dress made her slightly tanned skin appear as if it was glowing and the makeup that she seemed to have applied made her chocolate brown eyes pop out. 

 

She was wearing a pair of emerald green high heels that made her legs appear longer and she had dangling gold and green earrings. 

 

He had been staring at her for that long that she had started to move from foot to foot in nervousness. 

 

“Is it that bad?” She asked shyly. 

 

“Bad? No! You look….” he paused to think of the right word struggling to even form a sentence at this current time. “Stunning? Gorgeous? Absolutely amazing? There is no perfect word to describe what you are at this current time because of the way you look in this moment, shall we go?” he finished and held his arm out for her to take. 

 

“Um… er… thanks! But there's no need to lie” she said as she took his arm and began to walk. 

 

Draco stopped abruptly and said, “that was no lie Hermione, you look stunningly gorgeous and I wish you could see what others do everyday.” Her smile told him that she’d accepted his explanation.

 

“Okay, come on let's get this over with I want to read before bed.” He laughed, of course she would only be thinking of getting back and reading the next great adventure. 

 

As they walked down to the Great Hall, they chatted about how each of their classes were going and how each thought the joint class was going and general chit chat until they became silent as they reached the main part of the school and students were walking toward the hall. 

 

Every eye turned to Hermione as she passed, all wondering how she hid the beauty that was clearly there. 

 

The Entrance Hall was silent in anticipation of the opening of the doors to the Great Hall to see what the hall had been transformed into for this evening. 

 

The Headmistress arrived as Draco and Hermione walked down the stairs and she winked at them and swished her wand at the door to push it open. 

 

Inside was a sight no one expected there were small groups of round tables littering the room, in the middle of the room there was a massive dance floor and a pedestal stage where there would be a band later. 

 

The room was decorated in black and orange and had pumpkins everywhere, they all had faces on them, no pumpkin had the same face. There was live bats and fairies flying around the room and skeleton waiters with trays that had drinks on them. 

 

Draco and Hermione were happy with the work that the Gryffindor and Slytherin Prefects had done, they had come up with the idea that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff would work on the muggles side of the festivities and the Slytherins and Gryffindors would work on the wizarding to promote more house unity. 

 

They would have to find them later and thank them, but for now they were going to go and sit at one of the staff dining tables and eat their dinner and then Draco planned to get Hermione to dance with him. 

 

The meals arrived by the usual method of the House Elves sending them up from tables below and the feast that was before them was mouthwatering. 

 

Draco picked his cutlery up to dig in when Hermione kicked him under the table, he gave her a questioning look and she pointed towards McGonagall. 

 

He smiled and mouthed oops, and looked at the Headmistress with a look of pure begging to let them eat. 

 

She stood up and waved her wand to allow orange sparks to fly and said “let the feast begin!”  

 

He quickly dove in like all of the rest of the attendees and as the last morsel faded away from the plates the band came onto the stage and set up and started to play one of their original songs “New Beginnings”. 

 

Draco stood and held his hand to Hermione in offering and asked, “Would you give me the pleasure of this dance, Hermione?”

 

“It would be my pleasure” she said as she stood up and took his hand and headed to the dance floor. 

 

He placed one hand on her hip and held her hand in the other beginning to lead her in a slow dance and everything but him in this moment seemed to disappear as the lyrics took over them. 

 

“Take me into your heart and let me see the art of your beauty, honey let me have a new beginning...” 

 

Hermione looked up into Draco's eyes and smiled softly “I know there has been some difficult times but I'm beginning to like the person you have become”. 

 

“That means alot coming from you it truly does” he replied. 

 

They danced to a few more songs and then went and sat down at the table to watch the students until it was time to finish the night and everyone to go to bed. 

 

Hermione was happy with how both sides of the evening had gone and she hoped that the purebloods had a greater appreciation for the muggle side of Halloween and vice versa with the muggleborns. 

 

Draco escorted her back to their corridor and bade her goodnight and asked if they could meet for breakfast the next day in one of the Professor’s Lounges. She agreed to meet him in the Slytherin lounge and they would walk to their first class together. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading xx

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are always appreciated but kudos are just as good ;) Hopefully you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!!!


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